


The Art of Training Your Dog

by DJClawson



Series: Theodore Nelson's Adventures in Sharing a Workspace [38]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Theo has a potty mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJClawson/pseuds/DJClawson
Summary: Theo goes for "Uncle of the Year" award. Danny helps.
Relationships: Matt Murdock/Theo Nelson
Series: Theodore Nelson's Adventures in Sharing a Workspace [38]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1202407
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	The Art of Training Your Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to LachesisMeg, who can somehow still concentrate on editing this nonsense during a pandemic.
> 
> As you might be able to tell from the content, this fic was delayed. I strained a ligament in my index finger that makes it painful to type and I was told to rest it. I became so distressed at not being able to write that I decided to work on the story in small pieces anyway. The next story, if there is one, will depend on what my orthopedist says to do. I hope you enjoy this story. There are not a lot of difficult events for the characters to contend with but there was a lot of actual difficulty in writing it.
> 
> This story stars a lot of my OCs (though Ollie, Colin, and Ruth appeared in episode 302) but you should know them by now.

“So, what’s this about you going to space?” Andy said.

He was clearly responding to Theo’s shirt, which read,  _ I Went to Space With the Avengers and All I Got Was this Lousy T-shirt _ . It was a gift from Foggy.

“I went to space,” Theo said cooly. “You saw the pictures.”

“Should I believe you?”

“Yeah, ‘cuz I really did go to space.”

“It didn’t exactly make the news,” Andy said.

“Tony Stark did tell me not to say anything about it, so that’s probably why.”

Andy looked puzzled. “Haven’t you been violating that for weeks now?”

“Yes, because I don’t care. I went to space; I’m gonna fuckin’ talk about it.”

They were in the dining room at Andy and Jo’s house, where the table was still littered with newly-carved pumpkins. Theo was feeling the need to get out of the city - especially while Matt was either preparing for a big case or preparing to kick some mobster’s ass, he wouldn’t specify which - and Andy helpfully called him up because Theo was the best food carver in the family, though that was only a title he claimed because of his father’s arthritis. The kids had elaborate plans for their pumpkins that didn’t all work out, but Andy said it was still a better job than he could do. They also peppered him with questions he couldn’t answer because he hadn’t been in space that long, and no, he didn’t get to be weightless or go to the moon, though he said he did ask.

Now the kids were off playing video games or napping and Andy said, “I think you might be serious.”

“I am serious.”

“Why did you go to space, exactly?”

“The Avengers needed to ask me about all of this illegal shit I saw go down when I worked on stolen alien technology at Hammer.”

“Bullshit!” Andy said. “You said that you never did anything cool at that job.”

“Yeah, ‘cuz there’s things called NDAs? And I signed like a billion of them?” Theo replied. “I wasn’t comfortable with building weapons so I got myself fired. And I kept it under my hat until the Avengers got Justin Hammer to personally release me from them. So fuck him. Never should have been in the illegal weapons business in the first place.”

Jo, who had probably heard them from the kitchen, walked in and Andy looked at her. “Do you believe him?”

She took the seat at the head of the table that was usually Andy’s. “Which Avengers did you get to meet?”

“Iron Man, obviously. And Dr. Strange.”

Jo opened her own beer and said, “He’s the Harry Potter guy, right?”

“Yeah, he makes portals that go to space from his place in Greenwich Village. Which is how I got to a space station without, you know, a shuttle. Which would have been cooler.”

“A lot of women post about him on Tumblr,” she said. “I don’t see the appeal. Anyway, who else?”

“Uh, the woman in the Captain America suit but she’s not Captain America? I should know her name. She flies.”

“Captain Marvel,” Jo said. “I think her real name is Carol Danvers.”

“That’s her,” Theo said. “And some people that I wasn’t introduced to. Not like, the normal Avengers. You don’t go around and get to shake hands and get selfies. It’s all business.”

Andy once again looked to his wife, who shrugged and said, “I think he’s telling the truth.”

“Damnit!” Andy said. “When did your life get so fucking interesting?”

“When Manhattan became where like,  _ all _ of the superheroes and vigilantes decided to live?”

“And I find it very convenient that all of these cool things happened to you right up to the reunion.”

“Fuck, I didn’t even think of that,” Theo said. Yeah, he guessed it was a high school reunion year. “Are you going?”

“Ah, yes, I want to remember that very cool time in my life,” Andy replied. “Though it would be interesting to see who clearly peaked in high school. As long as it’s not me. It’s probably me, isn’t it? Because I said that? Everyone is going to come in looking thin and successful and not losing their hair?”

“I’m not losing my hair,” Theo said proudly. But his face certainly was ... craggly-er. “Now I’m curious to see who else is out. Statistically speaking, there’s gotta be at least one other person.”

“What about Chris?”

“Fuck, I should have never told you about that.” He pointed to Jo. “If you come, you don’t know anything about Chris, okay? He’s just a guy who was on the basketball team.”

“Yeah, I want to drop money on a babysitter to stand around a gym with people who’ve known Andy for longer than me,” Jo said. “That’s not happening. The last people I want to meet are his exes.”

“He wasn’t that popular,” Theo said.

Andy scowled. “There was Sheryl.”

“Did you ever actually go out or did you just tell everyone you were going out?” Theo asked.

“It was high school. We said we were going out and we hung out at each other’s lockers. That was all that was required to be going out with someone,” Andy defended. “Are you bringing your boyfriend?”

“No. Shit, no, I would never do that to him. That’s awful.”

“Ah, yes, the mysterious boyfriend that Andy will not name,” Jo said.

“Because Andy’s a good guy. And I would like one part of my life to be private,” Theo responded. “Even my cat is all over Instagram. Which is Luke’s fault. Now his thousands of followers think it’s his cat.”

“Oh yeah, she was trending,” Jo said, because apparently she knew. “I noticed you didn’t correct anyone.”

“I don’t need the notoriety. And I’m barely on Instagram.” He added, “Why are you following Luke Cage on Instragram?”

“Why do you think?” Jo said shamelessly, completely disregarding her husband’s stare. “I’m only human.”

The baby monitor wailed, signalling that Mary was awake and the other kids would come running like the helpful siblings that they were. After that was dealt with, Andy and Jo went out for dinner. Theo had offered to babysit so they could have a night out without paying a sitter since they were hosting him anyway, and he did really like kids. He was a Nelson; he knew how to handle them, even an almost-toddler. And they were thrilled to just eat pizza. They took turns daring each other to try Theo’s pizza.

“You’re the one who wanted to be vegetarian,” Theo said to Olivia, who was the oldest and at least pretended to be the most adventurous. 

“It looks like it has a cheese on it.”

“It’s vegan cheese.”

“What’s it made of?”

“If you’re gonna try it, it’s better if you don’t know first.”

With her siblings egging her on, Olivia took the tiniest possible piece for herself and a single bite. Her face curled up in itself. “It doesn’t taste like pizza.”

“The cheese is made from cashews,” he said. “Don’t tell anyone this, but when I first became vegan, I cheated with pizza. There was a place between school and the apartment and I would stop there on the way home. But if you go long enough you start to lose your taste for things.”

“When I get older,” Colin announced, “I only want to eat meat!”

“You’ll get scurvy,” Theo told him. “That’s what pirates get.”

“Cool!”

Theo should have known it was the wrong trivia to offer. “You get tired and it makes your gums bleed. And you’d have to go to the dentist more often.”

That put Colin off it, so Theo didn’t have to explain about vitamins. After that they just wanted to play video games in the living room while Theo kept an eye on Mary, who was happy to play on the floor and wasn’t great at walking yet. They tried to explain the games as if Theo had never held a controller before, and he played along.

At some point Olivia sat next to him and whispered, “Is it true you went to outer space?”

“Yeah. I know your father doesn’t believe me, but I did.”

“Next time you go, can you take me into outer space?”

“I think I might lose all uncle privileges if I do that. And I don’t think I’m gonna go again. It was a one-time favor from the Avengers.” He wasn’t sure if they knew what S.H.I.E.L.D was. He wasn’t entirely sure himself and it wasn’t worth explaining. “If you want to go to space, become an astronaut. I think it’s probably easier to do than it was when I was a kid. Or you can become a super rich celebrity and one of those private companies will take you up.”

“Are you a super rich celebrity?”

“I’m definitely not a celebrity and I’m not super rich. I just know some celebrities. Or I met them once at a bar. Or at the shop. Celebrities like sandwiches like everyone else.”

“I’m gonna be a celebrity!” Colin announced, unprompted.

“What do you think a celebrity is? Your Uncle Foggy has been on TV a lot. He’s pretty much a celebrity.”

“But all he does is make speeches,” Olivia said. “And they’re  _ boring _ .”

“Hey! He works very hard on those very boring speeches. And they get his clients out of jail,” Theo said. “He would say he fights the crime of people being in jail when they shouldn’t be.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Olivia said.

“Yeah, I don’t buy it either. But he gets to hang out with Luke Cage and that’s pretty cool. He can’t post them online but he has pictures of them hanging out and drinking in fancy clubs.”

“Can Luke Cage come to my birthday party?” Colin asked.

“Can Iron Man come to my birthday party?” Olivia practically begged. “You know Iron Man.”

Despite the coincidence of the question, Theo said, “I don’t have Iron Man’s number but I definitely don’t think he’d come. Colin, why would you want Luke to come? You don’t know him. Your friends don’t know him.”

“Couldn’t we punch him really hard? And nothing would happen? And he could lift really heavy stuff?”

“You’re gonna invite someone to your party just so you can punch him? That’s not very nice.”

“But it wouldn’t hurt him!”

Theo shook his head. “You know Luke is a person, right? He’s an ordinary person. You’re not supposed to punch people for fun. I’m sure Luke didn’t get shot all of those times for  _ fun _ . He did it because he was trying to help people. He’s not a party clown. He’s a regular guy who just has really hard skin.”

“And he loves cats!” Olivia proudly announced, as if it was secret information that only she had access to.

“He loves  _ my _ cat,” Theo replied, just as proudly. “Though I don’t think she likes him quite as much.”

He briefly debated telling them about Danny - he was the Iron Fist, and they would think that was cool, and undoubtedly want to see it, and he would want to show it to them. But Danny wasn’t a circus freak either. He was already annoyed that people didn’t take his sacred duties seriously. So Theo didn’t bring it up. 

“I see the house is still intact,” Jo said when they returned from dinner. She didn’t sound surprised as she looked at her children. “Were you polite to Uncle Theo?”

“We taught him to play video games!” Ruthie said.

“I’m sure he’s a fast learner,” Andy said, having spent hours of his childhood fighting with Theo over who would get to play Mario and who would get to play Luigi on their old Nintendo. “Let’s get ready for bed!” To the chorus of “awwws” he said, “Theo will still be here tomorrow.”

Olivia got to stay up at her computer, but the others had to go to bed, and Mary was tired out from all of the attention so it wasn’t hard to put her down. Theo took the time to text Matt, knowing he would respond if he wasn’t out on the town with only a burner phone, and Theo didn’t call the burner phone and it didn’t have accessibility options for text. If Matt was busy, the last thing Theo wanted to do was interrupt him and throw him off his game. He wasn’t sure the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen could ask thugs to pause a fight so he could take a call from his boyfriend.

Jo offered to have one of the kids sleep in the nursery so Theo could have their room, but he insisted on not kicking them out. “I know how to sleep with a baby in the house. I have a brother.” The nursery was once the guest room, and it still had a proper adult bed in it. Everything smelled of baby powder and that was probably covering other things. Matt would hate it.

Theo couldn’t think about Matt and babies, even though he grew up in an orphanage, so Theo put that thought aside for another time. 

He called Matt in the morning to be assured that yes, Sadie was very fine, and not mad at Matt. And that Matt was okay too - not that he would be offering if he was not. 

Andy and Jo didn’t go to church regularly, so Sunday was open, and they went to the Y - the Jewish one, the YMHA, because it had a better indoor pool. All of their kids had or would learn to swim in it. The pool was heated so Theo was willing to go in for a few rounds of Marco Polo as long as he didn’t have to get his hair wet. He hated getting chlorine out of it.

“The kids are good swimmers,” he said when he returned to his chair. It took him a second to realize Andy was staring at him. “What? Am I - ” He looked down to check if everything was in the right place and realized Andy could see his scars. The one in his chest was more of a clean circle but his shoulder had a nasty keloid scar. “Oh. They’re not as bad as they used to be.”

He took a seat and Andy asked, “Do they still hurt?”

“No. I mean, my shoulder gets stiff sometimes. Before it rains. Otherwise I just don’t notice it anymore.” 

Andy nodded and they fell into silence. 

Theo couldn’t help himself. “How is he? Do you know?”

“Saw him in June. I didn’t want to visit at all, but he’s further upstate and it’s just too long a drive for my parents to do on their own. So I help them. He was recovering from surgery and he could put weight on one of his feet enough to stand for a few minutes, but otherwise, he’s still in the chair.”

“That’s shitty,” Theo said, partially because he didn’t know what else to say, and partially because it did sound shitty.

“Yeah, he has to have a couple more surgeries but they’re spaced out so he can heal between them. They’re not  _ dangerous _ surgeries, but Mom gets worried anyway and wants to see him. She does most of the talking in visitation.” He took another moment to decide if he wanted to continue, and Theo gave him the time. “It’s different this time around. He can’t do much of anything because of his legs except read, and he’s never been big on that. And he really wants to make parole. Apparently prison isn’t very lively if you’re not in a gang. I think he’s depressed. I want to say I don’t feel bad about it, because I don’t, but ....” He shrugged uncomfortably. “He’s still my brother.”

“I shouldn’t ask. It’s not really my business.”

“I think it’s fair to consider it your business,” Andy said, finally looking at him again instead of at the kids. “He knows he fucked up. He knows he fucked up big time. He’s in therapy - and he admitted that to me so he must be serious about it. So we can hope. But you don’t have to hope. That’s not on you. You can still be mad at him.”

“I don’t have the energy to be mad at him,” Theo replied. “Maybe there’s not enough protein in my diet.”

Andy snorted. “Fucker.”

“Hey, I didn’t disown Foggy when he cut his hair and started wearing three-piece suits. Which, trust me, was a betrayal.” He knew it wasn’t a good comparison but it was all he had. “I do want Duncan to get better. And get out. Maybe not immediately but eventually.”

Andy nodded. “Thanks.” Another pause, then a long sigh. “Jo wants me to see a therapist.”

“So see a therapist.”

“Do you?”

“It petered out when I stopped having panic attacks. And I meditate. Much cheaper.” He added, “You should go. Even if it’s just to make her happy. It’s a good idea.”

“Yeah, I know.” Andy did seem resigned to it. “I will. But I’m not going to India to meditate.”

“Most of the time, I don’t even leave my apartment.”

It took some time to round up the kids for the ride home. They had moved to the topic of Colin’s upcoming birthday, which he bitterly complained was unfairly close to Christmas, and then what they wanted for Christmas, despite Andy’s declaration that it was “too early for this conversation.” But kids were kids, and being suburban kids, they wanted a dog.

“It can be my birthday and Christmas present,” Colin said. “Uncle Theo, can you - “

“I don’t think that’s my call to make. Sorry.” This earned Theo a thankful glance from Andy.

Jo was up and refreshed from a long nap when they got back, and Mary was ready to be put down for her own. With the kids busy on their own, Theo and Andy went out in the yard, behind the shed, so Andy could take a few hits on the vape pen. “I thought you were cutting back.”

“I did. I thought you were cutting back on drinking.”

“Shut up,” Andy said good-naturedly. “I don’t know how long I can hold up to this dog thing.”

“What’s wrong with a dog? You have a yard. The kids are old enough to walk it. Just because your parents wouldn’t let you have a dog - “

“Because they said I wouldn’t be willing to get and walk it before school until I went to college and they were right. Didn’t you have a goldfish?”

“I had many goldfish. They live for about a day if you don’t clean out the tank. That lasted - I don’t know, a couple months? And the smell of the food was foul. You don’t remember? You dared Foggy to eat it and Mom found out and for some reason  _ I _ got in trouble.”

“Oh right. He didn’t actually eat it, though.”

“Mom was mad anyway.”

“G-d we were assholes. My kids are so much nicer than I was. They probably deserve a dog.”

Theo took a short hit and said, “I do know this guy - people say he’s like a dog-whisperer. Could probably find the perfect dog for you.”

“Really? And not a puppy. Puppies are supposed to be baby-level of work, and I’ve had enough of that.”

Theo shrugged. “I could ask him. He doesn’t do it for a living - his friends just say it’s like, a thing to see, how he works with dogs.”

Andy took a moment to consider it before answering. “Text him. Just to ask.”

“Either he’ll be abroad at some conference or he’ll be super available.”  _ And maybe he can give me a ride back to the city _ , Theo thought as he pulled out his phone.

“Is he a superhero, too?”

“Oh, he’ll be so happy if you call him that, you have no idea.”

They enjoyed the cool breeze and let the smell dissipate for a little longer before returning to the house. By then, Theo already had four texts from Danny.

**_YES I’M AVAILABLE I LOVE DOGS GIVE ME 20 min_ **

**_WAIT THE HELICOPTER ISN’T AVAILABLE SO 1 hr_ **

**_WARD SAYS HI_ **

**_HE DIDN’T SAY THAT BUT HE MEANS IT_ **

Wondering if he’d made a terrible mistake, Theo showed the texts to Andy and Jo in the kitchen.

“Oh, so you’ve finally come around on this dog thing?” Jo sounded pleasantly surprised.

“I didn’t know you wanted a dog,” Andy said.

“I want the kids to have some responsibility and a reason to get more fresh air,” she said. “Mary’s on a regular schedule so we’re both sleeping better. And if we’re going to do it, it definitely shouldn’t be at Christmas, when we’re busy with family and people are coming and going. New pets need stability. Especially shelter dogs - and it has to be a shelter dog Andy, I can’t take any of those commercials that make me feel guilty about not already having one. The music is so sad.” She looked at Theo. “Why does your friend have a helicopter?”

“He’s a rich superhero. Though those two are mostly unrelated.”

“Does he know Luke Cage? Can Luke Cage come walk our dog?”

Andy glared at her but Jo just laughed in his face. 

Danny made it in fifty minutes, and they knew because he drove his Maserati in a way that announced it. They agreed to meet in the front yard and leave Andy with the kids for the time being (“since you’re being so sullen about this dog thing,” Jo said) while they scoped out the nearby shelter.

“This is going to be very rude,” Jo said to Danny, “but which superhero are you?”

“Iron Fist. I know, I’m not an Avenger. Apparently Theo has more connections to Tony Stark than I do.”

“And what do you do?” She asked like she was asking what he did for a normal job, with some genuine interest.

He held up his fist and it lit up like a lava lamp. “I punch people with this.”

Jo stared at it - it really was cool - until he powered it down. “I should be less surprised. Theo seems to know everybody.”

“He makes good momos.”

If Jo thought the car was cool to ride in she didn’t say anything, but Theo made sure to take the backseat first so she would have to ride shotgun. 

“So how do you know so much about dogs?” Jo asked.

“It’s not just dogs. All living things have chi. My fist was gifted from the chi of a dragon. Some are easier to manipulate than others. Dogs and other pack animals are bred to please humans, so they’re very free with their emotions. Not like cats. Or monkeys. Monkeys are assholes. I had a job guarding a shrine to the Buddha Amitābha from monkeys and I was supposed to do it by honing into their chi but it never worked and I just ended up yelling at them. They said I was the worst shrine guard they had ever had but the city’s eternal so I’m not sure they were right.”

“For the record, I believe every word of that,” Theo said, because he did. 

“Why were you guarding a shrine?” Jo asked.

“I was raised in a monastery. I used to be a monk but I like intoxicants and having a girlfriend too much,” he said as he pulled up to the shelter.

It was open on Sundays because that was a day families would be more available to visit. They were shown to a room full of dogs in cages, not so much inhumane as a result of limited resources for a non-profit. Danny went first.

He walked down the aisle very slowly, not speaking, and as he passed each dog they reacted. The dogs who were barking stopped. The dogs who were hiding in the back came forward. The dogs who were sleeping picked their heads up in interest. The whole energy of the room was noticeably different by the time he made it to the end. Then he went dog by dog, kneeling in front of their cages, letting them lick his hand through the bars, which all of them wanted to do.

It was stunning. 

“Do you know what kind of dog you’re looking for?” the baffled attendant managed to sputter out to Jo. 

“Small-to-medium-sized, low dander. We have little kids and they have to be able to handle the leash.”

Danny pointed to a cage near the end of the row and said with complete confidence, “You want this one.”

It was a light brown dog with relatively short, wiry fur and floppy ears. He moved slowly and was reluctant to come out of his cage. 

“He’s been here for a while,” the attendant said as she put him on a leash. “Labradoodle mixed with something else. He’s about a year old, maybe a year-and-a-half. Housebroken but it’s hard to predict how he will do in a new environment. He was healthy when he was surrendered, so we don’t think he was abused, but we don’t know his story.”

They went to the meeting room where they could be alone with the dog. Danny took a seat and leaned down face-to-face with the dog, who was quite attentive to him. “Good dog,” Danny said, rubbing his face and scratching behind his ears. “Good dog. Who’s a good dog? You are!” 

The dog’s tail started to wag. Jo watched him and said, “I don’t know.”

“Dogs are great because they’re eager to please authority figures. They want to led and they want praise for it. They need it,” Danny explained as he continued to scratch behind the dog’s ears. “This dog has a lot of love to give. He’s been let down before. That’s why he’s depressed. He loved his previous owner and they abandoned him. He’ll attach himself to someone who shows him attention. Isn’t that right?” Danny let the dog, now increasingly excited, lick his face. “Who’s just happy to see me? You just want some attention. You want to know that someone cares about you.”

The attendant was skeptical of Danny’s vast proclamations. “It takes three visits. And at least one with all of the family members who live in the home. He’s already neutered so there’s just an administration fee. And the visits give you time to get all of the things you need. You can find lots of used dog supplies on Craigslist and talk to a vet about expenses. We don’t want to see these dogs again.”

The dog was absolutely distraught to be led back to its cage, and would only stop whining when Danny stared at him and said, “It’s going to be okay.” 

Theo wanted to adopt him right then and there and he didn’t even want a dog. Jo was close to crying. 

“Okay,” she said. “Two more visits. At least. The kids are going to want a puppy but I’m sure they’ll take any dog at this point. And we have to find a vet. Do dogs need health insurance?”

“Rand Corp has a low-cost policy for rescues,” Danny said, which Theo was  _ sure _ was a lie but he was not about to call him on it. In other words, someone at the office tomorrow was going to be tasked with coming up with a policy. “I’m not a monk anymore but I still took a vow to end the suffering of all living beings.”

On the ride back, Theo said to Jo, “I didn’t know you wanted a dog so much.”

“My family’s full of dog people. My aunt and her wife have like, six of them. But it’s not for me. It’s for Andy.” She sighed. “This year has been tough on him. I know, in comparison to you - “

“It’s fine. I understand. I wasn’t the only person affected.”

“ - and I just think it would cheer him up to have something new to focus on. Yes he’s going to end up doing the early morning walks when it’s raining or snowing and he’s going to complain about it the whole time. But it’ll be good for him.”

“What happened to your husband?” Danny asked.

Jo didn’t mince words. “His brother is the one that shot Theo.”

“Oh.  _ Oh _ .” Danny looked guilty but kept his eyes on the road. “If it helps, my best friend shot his dad after I tried to punch him off a roof. But he was a zombie at the time so that made it sort of okay.”

Jo shot Theo a look and he said, “I know the friend and he says that’s what happened. Wait, you tried to punch Ward’s dad off a roof? Why a roof?”

“It’s easier to fight in an open space than an office,” Danny said, as if that explained everything. “It was a crazy night.”

Jo invited Danny to super. “Nothing about the dog,” she told him before they went in the house. “I need to talk to Andy about it first.” When they entered, the kids were in the living room. “Everyone, this is Theo’s friend Danny. He came to give him a ride so your uncle doesn’t have to take the train home.”

“And he’s a superhero,” Theo added.

Two of the kids straight up shrieked and ran to Danny, demanding to know what his secret identity was and if he could fly and if he ever went into space and did he ever save the world. And yes, they didn’t know who Iron Fist was, but Danny took that in stride, and was more than happy to show them the Fist, even if he said he couldn’t do it that long without passing out.

“Someone just needed to win Uncle of the Year today, didn’t he?” Andy said as he came in from the kitchen carrying Mary. “It’s not going to be Luke Cage next time, is it?”

“Oh, they hang out all the time,” Theo said and Andy checked to see if the kids were watching before giving him the finger. 

  
  


Theo and Matt were eating dinner at yet another Mediterranean vegan pop-up that was destined to go under in six months when he got a text from Andy.

**_Can we name the dog Ted?_ **

He texted back,  _ Absolutely not you cannot use my clubbing name _

**_Ted was your clubbing name??_ **

_ It sure as hell wasn’t going to be Theodore _ , Theo wrote, then related this to Matt. 

“So they’re getting it?” Matt asked. It had been two weeks since the visit.

“That dog was pretty cute.”

“It’s sweet that they want to name it after you.”

“It is,” he admitted.

After a little while, Andy wrote.  **_We’re naming him TR and that’s that._ **

“Aw, Christ,” Theo said, and gave it a thumbs up. He played the text in text-to-speech for Matt.

Matt looked up from his food. “What’s your middle name?”

“It’s _ exactly  _ what you think it is.”

“You know your family has been welcoming to me and I love your parents as if they were my own, but how could they do that to you?”

“It was my fault, actually,” Theo said with a blush. “They didn’t give me a middle name. When my mom took me to open a savings account at ten so I could learn about interest and stuff, I was still in my nerdy Roosevelt stage, so I put it on the form when I saw the open space. And I kept doing that. And it turns out if you put it on enough legal documents, it sticks.” He looked down at his phone ar a picture of the newly-christened TR sitting on one of the seats of their minivan. “They really owe Danny for this more than me.”

“It’s a good thing they didn’t think to name it Iron Fist.”

“Why?”

“Because then he might have ended up being called ‘Fisty.’ And Danny already hates that name.”

Theo wasn’t sure whether to hit him or kiss him, but that was usually the way conversations went with Matt.

The End


End file.
